fiction | Part of the journey is the end

6. Three is the magic number

At Ned's house, Ned and MJ sat at the dining table, worried. His Lola dropped off bread rolls. MJ was watching the local news while checking her phone for any updates from Peter.

"They must be going crazy not hearing from Peter," said Bruce.

Peter's face contorted as he realized that Ned and MJ were some of the few people he had left.

She sat down next to Ned and looked at the Box. "I'm gonna press it," said MJ.

"Do it," Peter said firmly. He didn't care what happened to the others anymore. Who cares if they died when they went back? He'd be happy if Osborn died because May was dead because of him. Nothing else mattered now.

"Peter—" Sam said softly.

"Don't! Stephen was right, they have no business being in this universe. They should've been sent back from the very beginning."

"Kid...you helped them," Stephen said, kindly. "You found another way."

"And that way killed May! You were right about all of it. May's dead and the Multiverse is a mess." Peter buried his face in his hands. He couldn't do this anymore.

"I just wish we could see him," said Ned, moving his hands, causing small sparks to appear. He was still wearing Stephen's sling ring.

Stephen and Wong looked at Ned incredulously, Peter's eyes were wide, Wanda's lips twitched into a smile, and everyone else blinked in surprise.

"Ned truly has the potential to be a powerful sorcerer one day," said Wong.

MJ told Ned to do it again. Ned gesticulated, larger this time. "I just wish we could see him." A small portal opened and then closed.

Stephen and Wong shared a look of astonishment. "Ned managed what Stephen couldn't do in months on his second try!" Wong laughed.

Stephen glared at him while the rest of the Avengers looked at him in shock.

Loki smirked. "You couldn't create a portal? I thought they were one of the first things you learnt?" he mocked.

Stephen scowled. He supposed that it made sense why Ned managed to create a portal much faster than he did. Ned was a child whose mind was open to many possibilities and desperately wanted to find his best friend. When he started learning the Mystic Arts, he'd been a firm believer of science who thought sorcery was nonsense and spent too much time trying to beat it into submission.

Ned and MJ stood, alert. Even more forceful: "I just wish we could see Peter!" said Ned. A portal opened and Spider-Man could be seen in an alleyway.

Wong and Stephen's mouths fell open as they looked at the portal in utter disbelief while the Avengers were highly impressed.

"Ned has the potential to become the Sorcerer Supreme one day," said Wong. "He has a natural ability for the Mystic Arts and I expect great things from him."

Peter's jaw dropped. Ned as the Sorcerer Supreme? He'd seen what Stephen and Wong were able to do and it blew his mind that Ned had a gift for it. "Will he have to move to Nepal?"

"No, he can commute and spend the summer at Kamar-Taj," said Stephen. "Ned should go to college too. Education is important."

"Peter got down from the rooftop pretty quickly though," said Clint.

Lola peeked around the corner and gasped. "Magician!" she told Ned in Tagalong.

"Sorcerer," Wong corrected.